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“The pain hasn’t improved much yet, but that may just be par for the course.”

“I hope this email finds you well. I know you’re still at the beginning of the program but I wanted to check in and see how your sessions are going with Karan so far.”

“Hi Rebecca –

Thanks for checking in. They’re going pretty well. I do think she’s got good reasons for what I need to strengthen, and how I carry my body. The pain hasn’t improved much yet, but that may just be par for the course.”

“Hey there,

Thanks so much for your response. I’m glad to hear that things are going well and you are seeing the role of strength and how you carry your body.

I spoke with Karan today about your pain issues and we talked about a few things we can do with you to further enhance the support you’re getting from us both as part of your sessions and in between sessions as well.

Here’s a brief synopsis:

–Pain patterns: Karan mentioned that sometimes on your own you roll out your knots too hard. The goal of rolling out is to do it only to the point of feeling a shift in the tissue. I know rolling out can be addicting but if your body is in pain, rolling out to the point of bruising may temporarily feel good or somewhat relieve the knot, but it ends up adding to the body’s pain cycle and damages the tissue. Releasing the tension or knot (and all work on your body) should be like a conversation and not an argument.

– Expanding on breath: How we breathe effects the nervous system. Breathing in a way that promotes relaxation also promotes efficiency of movement.
-When do you notice yourself holding your breath?
-Can you keep bringing your attention back to the breath throughout the day?
-Remember to breathe both in your belly and backs and sides of your ribs

–Shifting the language around body sensation / “looking” for pain: When you have chronic pain, the mind and body have learned a habit of attaching to how bad the body feels. As you practice and feel things that are good (i.e. the ease of breath in an exhale, the strength of your arm or core or legs, the ease right after rolling out) try to remember these sensations as specifically as possible. When bad pain shows up again, recall one of these good sensations in your mind and body. Continuing to bring your mind to the positive sensations in your body will help get the pain pattern out.

–Practice/Schedule:Let’s get more specific about when and what exercises you’re doing outside of your studio sessions so that your body is getting more repeat messages about things besides pain. You mentioned that finding time to do self-practice can be a challenge for you so let’s see if we can help get you strategic and consistent about it and make it part of a habit (like brushing your teeth- easy!), it will make a big difference in the short term and the long run.

So those are some things we want to highlight that will help you make greater (and faster) strides. Karan will of course talk with you more about these things in your session on Monday.